SiSAL Journal Vol. 3, No. 4, December 2012, 330-356
the language learning field (Wenden, 1987). Similarly, Fox and Riconscente’s (2008) three components of self-regulatory action, i.e., the subject who does the regulating, the object that is regulated, and the means by which regulation is done, describe essentially the same strategic learning processes. The person-task-context-strategy model outlined here can be viewed as a synthesis of this body of knowledge, specifically for the purpose of analyzing research work on language learning strategies. Learner characteristics and learning strategies The learner brings to the language learning situation a wide spectrum of individual differences that will influence the learning rate and the ultimate learning result. The most widely reported learner factors include age, sex, language aptitude, intelligence, prior knowledge, motivation, self-concept/image, personality, and cognitive and learning style. These person-dependent factors are relatively stable, and determine to a large extent how a learner approaches a task. After all, strategies are but learner-initiated actions that result from, make use of, or make up for, the aforementioned individual differences. Among these IDs, the learner’s sex, motivation, cognitive style, knowledge of various types, and his/her processing capacities are the most researched in relation to learning strategies. Compared to task-related strategies, person-related strategies have rarely been studied. Learning task and learning strategies When a learner approaches a task with a repertoire of strategies, s/he often chooses a strategy with the product demand in mind, and tailors his/her choices in tune with their effectiveness in performing the task (Bransford et al., 1981). Different types of tasks call for different strategies. The encoding, retention, or retrieval processes, for instance, require corresponding strategies for effective performance (Rigney, 1978). Likewise, tasks of various scopes also set limits to the corresponding strategies required, hence the differentiation between the generality/specificity of strategies (Dansereau, 1985). A learning task can be as broad as mastering a second language or as specific as remembering one meaning of a word. Broadly speaking, this conception of the learning
345